“I’m so angry,” Alton Police Chief David Hayes told The Telegraph. “This type of conduct is not supposed to happen in civil society.”

The attacks started when firefighters responded to a dumpster fire. The mob began shooting and throwing fireworks at them. According to police reports, the fires were set to “lure the fire department out so they could be attacked by fireworks.”

No one was injured in the battles that occurred late Sunday night and early Monday morning. The attackers, according to authorities, intended the assaults as entertainment for hundreds of people who had gathered at the housing complex.

In other words – the mob thought it would be funny to ambush police and firefighters. Officers were forced to retreat when they ran out of pepper ball ammunition.

Chief Hayes said the crowd’s actions were “despicable and turn my stomach.”

Deputy Fire Chief Mark Harris told the Associated Press he was upset at how the firefighters and police were attacked.

“Helluva example for the kids,” he said. “The guys don’t get paid near enough to be shot at.”

Andy Hightower, the manager of the housing authority, refused to comment and hung up on a FOX News Radio reporter.